Very tough times in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee these days. Over the past few months, the Archdiocese has unveiled initiatives designed to build the faith of people of the diocese, as well as invigorate institutions and provide for the future […]

Legionary of Christ founder Rev. Marcial Maciel has died: The Rev. Marcial Maciel, a Mexican priest who founded the Legionaries of Christ religious order and was disciplined by Pope Benedict XVI after sex abuse allegations, has died in the United […]

Two messages from Benedict: First, yesterday’s catechesis on Augustine: Distance from God means distance from oneself. Addressing his words directly to God he acknowledges (“Confessions,” III, 6, 11): “You are more intimately present to me than my inmost being and […]

In an interview with the Rocky Mountain News: Archbishop Charles Chaput called House Bill 1080 an “attack on religious identity” in his weekly column appearing in last week’s Denver Catholic Register. He subsequently answered questions about the bill in an […]

Tell us what this means, from today’s “Other Pontifical Acts”: Reorganised the Greek-Catholic Slovak Church, making in a “sui iuris” Metropolitan Church and adopting the following provisions: – Elevating the eparchy of Presov for Catholics of Byzantine rite (Catholics 137,203, […]

On a chilly Sunday morning, an ancient priest fills in for the pastor. He speaks softly, almost inaudibly at times. He is careful when he moves and must even take a seat while the Gloria is sung. Those of us […]

And one that I ask hesitantly. There is controversy brewing in Colorado about charities that receive state funding and employment practices. Archbishop Chaput lays it out: The Colorado General Assembly handles a vast amount of work every year. Nearly all […]

The Jesuits have been much in the news lately (keep up with GC35 here), and today we’ve got some good Jesuit-penned blogfodder: First, in today’s First Things page – Edward Oakes, S.J. on atheism and violence. Important to read if […]

Pope Benedict’s message for Lent ’08 has been released. The focus is on almsgiving: (Speaking of things papal, Tom Peters has a report on the designs for the papal chair, etc for his visit to the US.) 1. Each year, […]

An art exhibit in London: Marc Quinn last amazed the public by placing a giant pregnant disabled woman on the Fourth Plinth of Trafalgar Square. Now he is looking at pregnancy from the inside with nine large sculptures depicting the […]

Amy Welborn

Amy Welborn was born in 1960, the only child of a now-retired professor of political science, a teacher-librarian-artist mother,deceased since 2001, was a teacher, librarian and artist. The Catholicism comes from her side.

Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes.

She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. She has written 17 books. 18, if you included the as yet tragically unpublished novel.

Amy has five children, ranging in age from 26 to 4 and was married to Michael Dubruiel, who died unexpectedly in February 2009. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama.